Joncarl Lachman, executive chef of the gourmet carryout store Urban Epicure, won the San Pellegrino Almost Famous Chef award in 2002. He’s worked at New York’s Inside restaurant with Anne Rosenzweig, the influential chef who helped marry haute cuisine to traditional American cooking. His recipes have appeared in Wine X magazine. But his latest accomplishment might seem most impressive of all: he’s getting people to eat brussels sprouts.
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Tracy Benson and her partner, Lauren Potempa, who own the store, met six years ago, when they both worked in marketing. Benson had been mulling the notion of gourmet takeout for some time; she got the idea, she says, after realizing how sick she was of saying, “It’s four o’clock. What am I going to do for dinner? I don’t want to go to the grocery store, I don’t want to cook, I don’t want fast food.” At Notre Dame, where she recently earned her MBA, she spent 18 months researching the concept’s feasibility as part of her final project, promising herself that after graduation she’d either fulfill her dream or forget about it. When she found the ideal space–a spacious former recording studio in the heart of her own neighborhood, Andersonville–the decision was clear.
Each menu item is a lush variation on a standard dish. Grilled pork chops with kumquat-garlic jam, sturgeon wrapped in prosciutto, bright green beans tossed in champagne vinegar and laced with ribbons of caramelized onion–they’re what your grandmother might have made if she’d gone to culinary school. The offerings change every two weeks, though some favorites, such as the brussels sprouts and the house chicken salad, remain constant. So do the panini and sandwiches, including the Amsterdammer, a ham sandwich gone swanky on ciabatta bread with white cheddar, marinated tomato, leaf lettuce, and apricot mayonnaise. Benson’s proud of the menu’s range. “A customer can have a sandwich or a French double-cut pork chop with glazed turnips,” she says. Prices range from $5.50 (the sandwich) to $12 (one pork chop).
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photos/Anthony Tahlier.
